Glossary of Computer Terms

Computer Terms Glossary

This page is meant to serve as a guide to the vast
quantity of computer terms and acronyms in common use for the
casual computer user. It is divided into two main sections,
the first is dedicated to the basics and
is meant more for beginners, while the second is meant instead to be used as a
reference. In reality many of the terms in the second section
are still quite common; the first section was deliberately
kept as short as possible.

Terms in the second section may be looked up by either
using the "find in page" function of your browser, or by
appending "#term" (without the quotes and where
term is the term of interest) to the "URL" or "go
to" section of your browser, keeping in mind that case
matters. The best method of searching for a term though is
to use the Search
Interface that will return not only the specific term
sought but also other entries that reference it. Be aware
that the terms referenced in the second part of this page
will freely assume familiarity with the first part.

If you want something added or see a problem with
something already here (but keep in mind this guide is not
meant to be overly technical) please send .

Reference

Java

A computer language designed to
be both fairly lightweight and
extremely portable. It is tightly
bound to the web as it is the primary
language for web applets. There has
also been an OS based on Java for use
on small hand-held,
embedded, and
network
computers. It is called JavaOS. Java can be either
interpreted or
compiled. For web applet
use it is almost always interpreted. While its interpreted form tends not
to be very fast, its compiled form can often rival
languages like C++ for speed. It is
important to note however that speed is not Java's
primary purpose -- raw speed is considered secondary to
portabilty and ease of use.

JavaScript

JavaScript (in spite of its name) has nothing whatsoever
to do with Java (in fact, it's arguably more like Newton Script than Java). JavaScript is an
interpretedlanguage
built into a browser to provide
a relatively simple means of adding interactivity to
web
pages. It is only supported on a few different browsers,
and tends not to work exactly the same on different
versions. Thus its use on the
Internet is somewhat restricted
to fairly simple programs. On
intranets where there
are usually fewer browser versions in use, JavaScript has been used to
implement much more complex and impressive programs.

jiffy

A jiffy is 1/60 of a second. Jiffies are to seconds as
seconds are to minutes.

joystick

A joystick is a physical device typically used to control
objects on a computer screen. It is frequently used for
games and sometimes used in place of a
mouse.